Energy Revolution: possible and urgent

The personal fortunes of the 782 wealthiest people on the planet, many CEOs of major corporations, could power Africa, Latin America and most of Asia with 100% renewable energy by 2030, said Friends of the Earth International in a new report released on Monday, November 23rd.

Launched seven days before the UN climate summit in Paris, the report illustrates that the finance for an energy revolution certainly exists, while the political will to drive the transformation is so far shockingly absent. The climate crisis represents today one of the main causes of desertification and impoverishment of vast rural populations, as well as volatility of food at global level.

The Paris event starting in December will have the participation of social organizations around the world, mobilizing and demanding actions towards climate justice in the framework of social and environmental justice.
Real World Radio will cover the event on the ground in the context of the advocacy and mobilization work of Friends of the Earth International.

After the terrorist attacks in the French capital, mobilizations planned during the COP 21 were banned. In response to this, Jagoda Munic, Friends of the Earth International´s Chair said: "Since the tragic attacks in Paris, the French government has unfortunately clamped down on civil liberties, announcing a state of emergency and cancelling planned mobilizations for climate justice. But peoples’ voices will not be shut down. We are determined to ensure that the much-needed peoples’ call for climate justice will be heard loud and clear.

There is finance

Some of the main conclusions drawn by the new report titled “An Energy Revolution is possible” include:

• The wealth of the richest 53 people globally could power the whole of Africa with 100% renewable energy by 2030.

• The wealth of the richest 32 people could power most of Latin America with 100% renewable energy by 2030

• $5,148 Billion of extra investment would be required to generate half the world’s electricity with 100% renewables by 2030. This is an investment equal to the wealth currently held by 0.00001% of the global population, or 782 people

Wake up call

“This report is a wake up call for policy makers and governments. Our world faces two destructive and entwined crises – growing inequality and climate change. The time has come to address them together,” said Sam Cossar-Gilbert of Friends of the Earth International.

Climate change is already happening – wreaking devastation on communities and ecosystems around the world. Without urgent and drastic action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, we face far worse runaway climate change, with impacts that would dramatically overshadow anything we see today, and affect predominantly the poorer people and nations, which are the least responsible for climate change.
Energy production from fossil fuels is one of the main contributors to sky-high levels of carbon emissions and tackling it is central to stopping a climate disaster.

“Business as usual is no longer an option. Carbon emissions continue to rise. We need an energy revolution,” said Dipti Bhatnagar, Friends of the Earth International Climate Justice and Energy coordinator.

"The energy transformation involves not just switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy, but also a deeper transformation including democratic ownership of renewable energy resources,” she said.

The comparisons with individual wealth are used as a stark reminder that the finance for halting dangerous climate change is certainly available.

The report is available in English, French and Spanish at Friends of the Earth International´s website: www.foei.org